ChainLink launched a new protocol aimed at increasing chain interoperability
Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has entered general availability with the aim of further promoting cross-chain communication.
The protocol allows developers to use CCIP for cross-chain token transfers and arbitrary smart contract messaging across blockchain networks without permission.
Developers can send and trigger function calls on smart contracts deployed on other blockchains, making cross-chain smart contracts more interoperable.
The general availability of the CCIP mainnet enables quick and easy implementation for developers, strengthening chain links, said Sergey Nazarov, founder of Chainlink.
Nazarov wrote in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
“CCIP is now becoming the benchmark for both capital markets blockchain-based transactions in banks, as well as the secure Web3 cross-chain way of moving value and information across the public chain.”
Cross-chain bridges help users facilitate transactions between different blockchain networks. They represent the most important points of vulnerability in crypto.
Chainlink is one of the largest organizations working on cross-chain, which is one of the most pressing flaws in the industry – individual blockchain networks have no way to talk to each other without interoperability solutions.
In early April, ChainLink launched Transporter, a cross-chain messaging app for connecting tokens, to develop more secure cross-chain crypto transfers with a beginner-friendly app interface.
Chainlink's transport is supported by CCIP, which is “the only on-chain protocol that achieves level-5 security,” according to a Chainlink spokesperson.
CCIP is available on nine blockchains, including Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Kroma, Optimism, Polygon and WEMIX, with plans to integrate more networks.
CCIP aims to help financial institutions unlock the $500 trillion opportunity in tokenized assets by providing better liquidity for cross-chain assets, a Chainlink spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
“CCIP is part of a larger Chainlink platform that enables financial institutions to fully unlock tokenized assets by helping them overcome their data, cross-chain, compliance and synchronization needs.
Related: ‘Money-hungry VCs' are bad for long-term token launches – analyst
Cross-chain connectivity continues to be a pressing industry concern.
Due to their technical complexity, cross-chain bridges represent some of the biggest vulnerability points in crypto protocols today.
Since 2016, more than $5.85 billion worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Cross-chain bridges account for more than 48%, or $2.83 billion, of the total value lost to exploitation, Defillama data shows.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has criticized cross-chain infrastructure in the past. In a Reddit post from January 2022, Buterin shared his concern about how 51% attacks on cross-chain bridges will spread in the future.
“The problem gets worse when cross-chain bridges and applications are widely used. No one is going to attack 51% of Ethereum to steal 100 Solana-WETH… But if there is 10 million ETH or SOL in the bridge, the motivation to attack is very high and there are large pools to do it.” They may well be attacked.”
Related: Bitcoin Outperforms Tesla Shares for First Time Since 2019
